City of Muskegon rededicates Smith-Ryerson Park, pavilion in pastor's memory

Ann Becker/city of MuskegonThe community gathered Friday to dedicate The Rev. Gregory M. Kirksey Pavilion at the city of Muskegon's Smith-Ryerson Park.

MUSKEGON — The late Rev. Gregory M. Kirksey would have been proud and pleased with the improvements at the city of Muskegon's Smith-Ryerson Park, his wife said.

In an emotional dedication and community celebration Friday, the city dedicated the new Smith-Ryerson picnic shelter as the Rev. Gregory M. Kirksey Pavilion. The ceremony was part of the rededication of the park after a more than $700,000 upgrade to the facility in the Jackson Hill Neighborhood.

“This is a vision of the park that Greg had back in 1989,” Lisa Kirksey said of her husband who died from complications from diabetes at age 48 in 2004. Kirksey was the 17-year pastor of the nearby New Hope Baptist Church, headed its Kitchen of Hope ministry and was a Muskegon housing commissioner.

The Kirksey Pavilion is part of the improvements at Smith-Ryerson, a neighborhood park that is among 34 parks in the city ranging from Pere Marquette on Lake Michigan to pocket parks in city neighborhoods. Smith-Ryerson is at Wood Street and Sumner Avenue along Ryerson Creek.

City Manager Bryon Mazade said the park improvements also include a trail along the creek with an overlook deck, new restrooms, improved basketball courts, and an upgraded football field that will now be home to the Port City Football Club, a youth organization.

Smith-Ryerson Park is managed for the city by the Muskegon Recreation Club, an organization that, in part, trains boxers. It handles park maintenance and reservations for the picnic pavilion and adjacent community center, Mazade said.

Chronicle file photoThe late Rev. Gregory M. Kirksey in a 2003 photo taken during a physical therapy session after an amputation due to complications from diabetes.

The city park improvements were made possible through a Michigan Department of Natural Resources Trust Fund grant of more than $400,000. The state fund comes from royalties from oil and natural gas wells on state land. The city has received almost $2 million from the fund in past years for park improvements, said Steve DeBrabander of the Michigan Department of Natural Resources.

“As a city, we are fortunate to have all of our parks,” said Muskegon Mayor Steve Warmington, adding that Smith-Ryerson has not seen major improvements since being developed by the city in the mid 1970s.

“These improvements will allow our community to come down here as a family and to be able to watch our young men practice to become future Big Reds football players,” the mayor said.

The community — from its neighborhood groups to its churches — came out to pay tribute to Kirksey and his family, including five surviving children and two grandchildren. Former Muskegon Mayor and Kirksey family friend Blanche Smith sang “Then My Living Shall Not Be in Vain” in memory of the pastor.

“The state and the city have done what they said they would do,” Lisa Kirksey told those gathered. “Now this is our park. This is our community. This is a park for us to keep safe and clean for our families.”